Nipplegate: networks challenge huge fine

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Twenty CBS television stations have challenged plans by US
federal regulators to fine them almost $727,000 collectively for
airing the Super Bowl halftime show in which singer Janet Jackson
exposed her bare breast.

The US Federal Communications Commission in September said it
planned to fine the stations each the maximum $US27,500 ($A36,340)
for the incident in which her breast was exposed for a brief moment
on air, prompting outrage from US family groups and
politicians.

While acknowledging the incident had become "a defining moment"
in the commission's aggressive campaign to combat indecency, the
stations denied the fleeting glimpse of a woman's breast violated
decency standards.

The stations, owned by Viacom Inc, argued the FCC wrongly
concluded the performance was designed to "pander, titillate, and
shock" viewers and said the proposed fine would violate their free
speech rights.

"Something cannot be 'designed' without advance knowledge," the
stations said in their reply to the FCC, filed today.

Viacom and CBS have said they knew nothing in advance about
plans by Jackson and her duet partner, Justin Timberlake, to rip
her costume and expose her breast.

"If it stands, the (proposed fine) will lead to the end of live
broadcasting as we know it by placing broadcasters on notice that
they risk massive liability and perhaps license revocation if they
fail to adopt technical measures to avoid the possibility of a
spontaneous transgression," they said.

The agency received about 542,000 complaints about the halftime
show, produced in part by Viacom's MTV network. The FCC decided
against fining more than 200 other CBS affiliates that aired the
show and are not owned by Viacom.

The FCC has been cracking down on US broadcast radio and
television stations for explicit sexual discussions and other
incidents aired when children were likely to be watching or
listening.

The $US550,000 proposed fine for "an unplanned, fleeting
exposure of a woman's breast is anything but a 'restrained' or
'cautious' approach to enforcement," the stations said.